Ken Ferrie explains in this Agronomic Minute why growers are seeing more white “fins” left on the cob after harvest. Due to the wet weather, a lot of hybrids in Illinois were under stress during their pollination window causing uneven pollination and the abortion of some of the later pollinated kernels. [...]
Harvest loss is a double whammy. It is volunteer corn next year that you have to kill and it is $5 corn you are leaving in the field this year. In this #AgronomicMinute Ken Ferrie gives a couple of tips to help reduce what is getting left in the field and reminds you to check [...]
Make decisions based on numbers and not emotions. If you know what harvesting in both directions is really costing you, specific to your field this year and your equipment, it can help you evaluate that the hassle of combining one way for this field, this year, is worth it.
In this Agronomic Minute Ken Ferrie reminds growers of ways they can reduce harvest loss in beans, especially in early planted bean fields that are podded all the way to the bottom.
In this Agronomic Minute Ken walks through a couple of tips of what to look for during the pollination window, why uneven tasseling means more trips to the field, and what to check on before applying your fungicide.
If you are wondering if a recent event in your soybean field is causing pod abortion (sprayer application, heavy rain, etc) you can look on the ground to verify the effect.
Non-GMO growers should be on the lookout for corn borers. Ken recommends putting out a trap to be aware of the amount of pressure in your corn fields, especially as plants reach 18 inches or taller. Once their presence is detected, then he recommends pulling the whirl in the shot hole plants to [...]
Planting beans early to encourage pre-solstice flowering is focusing on adding more pods at the base of the plant. The pods need to be ½ inch or longer in length to make them more stable before the rows close to be able to hang onto those pods. Adding 2 pods per plant can [...]
Ugly corn phase happens in the period when the transfer is made from the seed roots to the crown roots. Sometimes stumbling in this phase can be indicators of a non-uniform seedbed.
Soybeans can also experience a carbon penalty if they are V4 or smaller when the carbon penalty period hits. Depending on size of the bean, it can take a couple of weeks to come out of the stall.
